General topics and concepts across disciplines

¶ … Feeding Baby

Motherhood conjures up images of a plump round female body surrounded by plump round babes playing about at feet while another suckles at breast, much as one sees in Victorian paintings. It is a common belief that bottle-feeding is a modern phenomenon, and although most images of motherhood do depict breastfeeding, it seems even in the Victorian era and earlier, substitutes for nursing babies was not uncommon.

The horn, which was commonly used as a drinking vessel for adults during the Middle Ages, was used to feed infants by tying a soft leather scrap to it to make a teat (History pp). In 17th Century Europe, leather or wood feeding bottles were used, then later pewter bottles and pap boats, most of which were flask shaped with screw on tops to form a hard round nipple (History pp).

Over the next four hundred years, the materials and design of bottles evolved, however, all were impossible to thoroughly clean and thus were unhygienic (History pp). Moreover, milk supplies were so contaminated that the mortality rate for babies under two years of age was "horrendous" (History pp).

Nevertheless, pap boats and cups were still popular feeding utensils during the 18th and 19th century (History pp). Pap, by the way, was made of boiled water and flour, with perhaps an egg or bread added -- Yum! (History pp).

Then during the mid-1800's vulcanized rubber was invented, however, it produced a strong odor and it was some years before suitable rubber teats were manufactured in mass along with mass-produced glass bottles, yet, again the design prevented proper cleaning and even doctors condemned their use (History pp). In 1894 Allen and Hanbury invented the double-ended feeder, a design that had a teat at one end and a valve at the other, enabling a constant milk flow and easy cleaning (History pp). This design remained popular until the 1950's when the popular narrow neck heat resistant upright Pyrex models were invented followed by the wide necked bottles a decade later (History pp).

It makes one wonder how anyone who was not nursed by the breast survived those earlier centuries. Yet, if the mother died during childbirth or shortly after, or if she was too ill to nurse, and no other lactating female was available, the horns and pap boats were the only things separating the infants from starvation.